Organizer is must for most moderate/complicated returns from a due d standpoint. Interesting that Intuit does not see the need to have one for PTO and feels so strongly the general list of questions they have in Link would be more than sufficient that they made a decision for all the tax pros who use PTO that everyone should fall in line as they will NOT produce any tax organizer for PTO for 2018.
I am all for automating the tax preparation process. Web-based tax organizers that can be customize with detailed questions based on client responses to a comprehensive questionnaire and feed directly into tax returns have been around for ages (preparing a return with automatic feed can sometimes feel like correcting a badly prepared return though). These web-based organizers are often integrated with client portals that provide DMS and workflow functionalities. Intuit Link is nowhere near that level of sophistication at this time but yet Intuit believes there is no longer a need for organizer because their study shows that only 10% of the tax pros' clients complete organizers. The number of comments and Likes in the PTO FB group for making an organizer available, nevertheless, seem to say otherwise.
I don't have a stake in the paper organizer that Intuit decides not to produce as we develop our own electronic organizer that customizes itself for only questions relevant to each client but am just surprised how Intuit rationalizes their decision. It would appear that Intuit does not understand the role of an organizer (whether in paper or electronic form) in the tax return preparation process and how Link, primarily as a client portal, and organizers do not need to be mutually exclusive (at least until Intuit is able to have Link truly function as an electronic tax organizer) but one should complement the other. I also can't help but wonder why Intuit would think that PTO does not need an organizer when it is still being offered for both Lacerte and PS. This is especially so when tax organizers are still a standard offering for practically all other professional tax products as far as I'm aware. (See also
https://competency.aicpa.org/media_resources/209714-tax-return-processes-the-intersection-of-due-dil... and
https://www.thetaxadviser.com/issues/2010/oct/milford-oct2010.html)
Preparing a complete and accurate tax return involves much more than asking general questions like the following, which are extracted directly from Link. And it takes more than having a 1099, K-1, or W-2 to report and compute the correct amount of taxable income. Good luck if anyone relies on what is in Link to obtain the information required to prepare a return. If Intuit expects tax pros to type in all the questions relevant to each client (customized or not) to augment or replace the general questions they populate, wouldn't that be counterproductive and inefficient?
* Did you donate money, household goods, cars or stock?
* Please list any questions or other concerns you might have.
Sorry for hijacking this post but thought these points are relevant since we're on the subject of tax organizer.
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Still an AllStar
